_Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind_

So, me and the wife watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind last night in celebration of our anniversary. Some observations:

1) Charlie Kaufman is a mad genius. He's also perhaps the only writer who doesn't direct whose name is enough to get me to see his films.

2) Would it be admitting too much to say that I saw myself WAY too much in Jim Carrey's character?

3) If I was single and stood a chance in hell, I would like to have Kirsten Dunst wearing only underwear, jumping on my bed.

4) This was much more tender and romantic than I expected from a Kaufman film. At first, I was wondering if it was really an "Anniversary" film, but I think the ending was perfect. That you can know that a huge number of elements of a relationship will go to hell, but that's okay... That you will eventually find that right person...

5) You have to love a film that won't leave you. There's been very few moments today where it wasn't stuck in my head.

6) We need more of these kind of Jim Carrey films and less of Bruce Almighty...and Adam Sandler, if you're listening, same goes for you. Go back and find PT Anderson and make him write more for you.

comics for history!

Interesting article about a forthcoming comic which is an illustrated history of the state of Israel. I can't help but thinking that this would make a perfect companion to the comic of Pope John Paul II's life and childhood that came out a few years ago...

goodbye, Carson

Johnny Carson passed away this weekend. Late night television has not been the same without him. Favorite Carson anecdote: he said that the one type of joke he could never pull off was an Abraham Lincoln joke, and he could never figure out why (Culture Studies scholars? Theories?). So of course, Carson kept trying them. One of the more memorable was when he did a sketch of Lincoln as a stand-up comedian...it ended with someone shooting off his stovepipe hat.

RIP

My grandmother died Saturday morning from complications from pneumonia. My thoughts go out to my Grandfather, my dad, and all my family. Wish I could be there.

Red Dawn

On an e-mail list I'm on (Postcard From Hell), there is been a thread about the film Red Dawn, and I couldn't be happier. Those of you who know about my Red Dawn addiction will know that I seemingly hold this film in greater respect than most people...I want to rehabilitate it, to use Stalinist (?) terminology.

Anyway, someone posted a piece on _Red Dawn_ from TruthOut.org called "Iraqui's Red Dawn" (available hre, but you may have to scroll down some), relating the film to our current war du jour. It's worthy of a read.

Fave Red Dawn story: a girl I knew my first year in Bowling Green was from Lithuania, and I managed to get her (among others) to come back to my house to watch Red Dawn before hitting the bars. She couldn't believe the level of paranoia exhibited. Plus she said the Russian speech was bad.

good news...

Today marks the second anniversary of the day I married my wonderful wife. I couldn't be happier. Lori never fails to amaze me with her tenderness, her good humor, and her warmth. I couldn't imagine being without her.

jerks

So, on the advice of a friend, I finally caught Boston Legal...it was either that or CSI: New York, and that whole franchise makes me itch. I do like their constant expanding, though. It gives me hope that sooner or later we may see CSI: Wood County, OH. Coming up on this episode, the gang of super sexy forensic experts in low cut tops examine the crime scene for clues on who tipped the cow, Bessie.

Boston Legal, though, is great. James Spader plays a complete bastard and William Shatner is suffering from dementia. Both are utterly hilarious, mostly because the producers don't swerve into "well, they're really nice guys in spite of everything." Emotionality in my dramas makes me sick.

The show, along with House, takes place as the only things on network I will actually watch. You have to love shows with crumudgeonly (how do you SPELL that?) bastards as lead characters.

We need more of these particular types of bastards on TV. Too often, they just hit us with the emotional swerve, or they're like the jerks on reality TV that are simply idiots without being likeable.

I like my assholes done well.

over the oceans?

So, from Saturday to Monday, I had four seperate people suggest that since the job search has not exactly been a blazing success, I might want to consider teaching for the Armed Forces. My department chair suggests that there's actually pretty good money in this...and damnit, as I don't know if I can survive (financially or mentally) being a part time insructor much longer, I may actually have to look into it.

For those of you who don't know, I am an Air Force kid. I was born in New Jersey, apparently got run out of the state when I was one and moved to Germany, then we moved to South Carolina, then we moved to Florida (Jacksonville, which I consider my hometown) when Dad retired. The moving was interesting, to say the least, and although exposure to different, exotic places was kinda nice, there was a certain social transience which bothered me. It was, as a result, one of the reasons that I didn't follow in my Father's footsteps career-wise...well, that and I hate discipline.

It's kind of weird that I am now considering going back to the same kind of lifestyle. Then again, the constant motion and departure of whatever friends I might make is very close to how grad school is. I have to get used to a completely new social circle every year as is as friends graduate, find jobs, move on to other programs, or simply freak out. The main advantage of doing the overseas thing is that I am already used to the suck-ass aspects, and I might get to try some new beers. Woohoo!

distributed journalism

Found this article on something called distributed journalism. Let's all read it and share thoughts, shall we?

my mp3s are trying to kill me

So I've been working on some syllabi and playing my mp3 file on random, and I realize that I must have weird taste. The last number o' songs:

• Peter Bruntnell, "Black Aces"
  
• Parliment, "Flashlight"
  
• Patterson Hood, "Hobo"
  
• Megadeth, "Tornado of Souls"
  
• Golden Smog, "Jennifer, Save Me"
  
• Iron Maiden, "Die with your Boots On"
  

Very whiplash-inducing. Earlier, though, it suprised me by playing KD Lang doing "All I Need is the Air That I Breathe," off her album of only songs about smoking...tres cool.

job huntin'

Okay, I am back. I've been spending the last few days trying to put together my Spring classes (both of them...woooeee) in enough detail so I can concentrate on something else as the semester gets cranking....namely, getting a real job.

It's really too horrible to contemplate, yet alas, I must. Two classes at adjunct rates is definitely not a fortune. I need to pay the bills, and as the wife hasn't pulled in a six figure position, I gotta work more. Hopefully I can get something with a cool uniform and paper hat!

The fun part is realizing that I have to effectively minimize the education I've spent the last eight years or so getting. Strangely enough, a Ph.D. is not much of an advantage when you're applying for a movie theater usher position. Do I just list it under "education" as a general college degree? Do I lie?

This is also compounded by the fact that all of my work for the last six and a half years is education-based. How do I account for no real jobs during this period? Will a simple "school-related employment" take care of it? Again, the ability to teach Intro to Ethnic Studies doesn't help convince an employer that I can ring up the newest Nu-Metal cd or pour an icee.

If anyone has advice, or better yet, a cash grant, I'd appreciate it.